‘We are really excited’ – Athlone women set for new season
By Daire Walsh
IT might be one of the toughest opening day fixtures imaginable, but Laurie Ryan believes the visit of FAI Cup champions Wexford Youths to Lissywollen on Saturday (kick-off 7pm) will provide Athlone Town with a firm indication of where they are at for the start of the Women’s National League.
In addition to lifting silverware on the biggest day in the domestic women’s soccer calendar, the Slaneysiders finished a respectable third in the 2021 WNL – just six points behind eventual winners Shelbourne. Athlone were 36 points adrift of Wexford in seventh, but Ryan is in a positive mood as Tommy Hewitt’s charges begin their campaign.
“I think we’re all really excited to get going. Especially with the long break, it would have been November since our last game. Everyone is really looking forward to getting it started,” Ryan remarked at a recent league launch in Dublin.
“We are really excited and it’s great to have it as a home game. You’d back yourself in any kind of a home game so we are looking forward to it.”
Whereas the 2021 season was several months old before crowds were allowed back in for games, Athlone and the other teams that are at home on the opening weekend of this year’s WNL are permitted to have full capacity within their gtounds. Having made her debut with the Town in somewhat eery circumstances, Ryan is hoping her club’s supporters can build up a lively atmosphere for the visit of Wexford.
“Last year was my first time at the club and we had no real crowd there for the first half of the year. It’s hard to gauge on what the atmosphere is. That’s something we’re looking forward to because we do have a brilliant club in Athlone. Hopefully the crowds do come out and support us. It’s something we are looking forward to and trying to promote as well.”
While several clubs – especially those at the top-end of last year’s table – will be returning with drastically different squads, Athlone will re-emerge with the nucleus of their 2021 selection. Ryan believes this is important as it will make it easier for them to build cohesion and consistency within their play as the season progresses.
“A key thing me and Tommy would have spoken about at the end of last season was keeping the girls that we had. I think there was a lot of trials the previous year and we often had 30, 40 girls there, who probably weren’t in contention of making it. It makes it a lot harder to do anything with that.
“By keeping that core group of girls, I think we’ve kept 13 or 14 of them between our seniors and U19s, it just means we can get a bit of structure in place. We knew we were keeping the right girls, which is great as well.
“If everyone is singing off the same hymn sheet it does make a difference, in terms of trying to bring in new systems. That was really important I thought for us from a consistency and to try and push on.”
Although she played a lot of underage soccer with Lifford Ladies in her native Ennis, Ryan is also well-known for exploits on the GAA field. Back in 2016, she was captain of the Clare team that lost out narrowly to Kildare in the All-Ireland Intermediate ladies football final at Croke Park.
A serious concussion injury playing for her club three years ago saw her stepping away from the inter-county scene – and from all sport for a while – but she returned to the fold towards the tail end of 2021. She featured alongside Peamount United’s Chloe Moloney in the Banner County’s LIDL NFL Division 2A defeat to Laois last month and is intent on striking a balance between both sports in the new few months.
“I had kind of taken a year out last year and ended up joining them towards the end of their season, but I’m back in from the start this year. It is a big ask, but it’s all about trust. That I’m being honest with them and how I really feel. That I will turn up and train, and that’s one thing I’ve guaranteed them for both sides of it,” Ryan added.
“I think it’s the way forward in terms of getting the best out of a lot of girls. You see [Westmeath’s] Lucy McCartan doing it with Peamount and Chloe Moloney with Peamount doing it. I think there’s a lot more girls capable of doing it as well. It’d be nice to strengthen the squad for soccer girls by getting more access to footballers.”